Secondary navigation

You are here

Traffic Control for Safer Work Zones

Work Zone Safety Classes

Background

In 1978, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approached the State of California to encourage the State to present statewide Work Zone Safety training. A partnership between Caltrans, the University of California, and the California Office of Traffic Safety was formed. This partnership reached out to the major traffic engineering agencies, State–County–City, to volunteer their experienced engineers for the formation of a statewide course on Work Zone Safety patterned after the FHWA training program. Over the next six months, a course development team of 19 traffic engineers developed a Work Zone Safety training course for California. This course was presented by the development team members, thoughout the State, free of charge, to more than 9,000 students in 326 sessions over the following four years.

At the end of the four-year kick-off period, the University of California continued to – and still does –provide this Work Zone Safety training for a moderate fee to Public Agencies, Contractors, and Utilities throughout the State. To date, this training has been provided to approximately 70,000 field workers, inspectors, engineers and managers. To the best of the University’s knowledge, over this 39 year period, there has never been a work zone fatality or serious injury to a worker or roadway user, or a significant liability loss, caused by one of our trained students. Unfortunately, we are frequently contacted by agencies to provide training as a direct result of losses incurred by the prior lack of employee Work Zone Safety training.

Description

Our one-day Traffic Control for Safe Work Zones course is designed to keep the workers and public safe during road construction and maintenance, utility work, landscaping and railway maintenance work along roadways in California. This training course is compliant with the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CAMUTCD), Cal-OSHA Sections 1598 & 1599, and California Vehicle Code Section 21400. It also incorporates the latest State and Federal guidelines.

Customization is a key feature of our Work Zone Safety Training program. Our course can be tailored to accommodate the needs of crews working on local streets, low volume roads, or high-speed facilities.

Collectively, our team of instructors has over 150 years of work zone related experience. They are all Licensed Professional Engineers who work for public agencies or as engineering and liability consultants. Many of the instructors also are active members of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the Work Area Traffic Control Handbook (WATCH), and the Caltrans 2014 CAMUTCD working team.

"Traffic Control for Safer Work Zones by the Technology Transfer Program is an excellent course, not only providing critical training for various field crews, but also protecting employees and members of the public. We received numerous positive reviews from employees and managers regarding the instructors and the course. This is one of the most sought-after classes and we would like to provide it on a regular basis."Saranta RobrooCorporate Safety, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power